P130: providing adequate healthcare to people with hemoglobinopathies during the pandemic (covid-19)

Background: Countries around the world were dealing with an increase in demand for COVID-19 healthcare, which was exacerbated by fear, confusion, and mobility restrictions, all of which impacted the provision of health care for all conditions. Patients with severe diseases, such as hemoglobinopathies, seem to pose additional challenges. Aim-Methods: An anonymous questionnaire was developed and given to 130 patients from four Thalassemia and Sickle Cell Disease Units of the National Health System of Greece Hospitals using stratified random sampling technique. To perform statistical analysis on the questionnaires, the MedCalc 2018 application was used. Results: There were 130 participants (51 % women, 49 % males) with transfusion-dependent thalassemia (84%), transfused sickle cell disease (15%), and other conditions (1%). During the pandemic, patients’ main concern was a lack of blood for transfusions (64 percent). The consistency of scheduled transfusions was not impaired (72 %) during the lock-down, while they were occasionally delayed (21 %) or did not appear at all (7 %). Similarly, when it came to systemic iron chelation therapy, 82 % were consistent, whereas 6 % stopped taking the drug on a regular basis because of worry of not having enough. The pandemic and lockdown had an impact on the annual follow-up of basic disease comorbidities, with 42% postponing the standard cardiac evaluation, 30% postponing magnetic resonance imaging of the liver-heart, and 23% cancelling major assessments or treatments such as biopsies or in vitro fertilisation (IVF) therapeutic interventions. Finally, 6% of scheduled surgeries had to be rescheduled. Conclusion: Patients with hemoglobinopathies received their scheduled transfusions without delay during the pandemic. A small percentage of patients modified their home medications because they were concerned about not being adequate during the pandemic. The significant consequence of the pandemic on our patients was the postponement of scheduled assessments and medical procedures required for chronic complications of their underlying condition. References 1. World Health Organization. (2020). COVID-19: Operational guidance for maintaining essential health services during an outbreak.